Josh Nass, KI6NAZ, (aka Hoshnasi) runs the Ham Radio Crash Course YouTube channel. His videos cover a wide variety of topics in amateur radio and tend to lean towards experiences related to being prepared for communications emergencies while also just having a lot of fun with radio (if building a lawn-chair dipole is any indication). He also is an avid backpacker and Summits on the Air activator, so one day he thought, why not round up a group of followers to a SOTA expedition. And so he did!
With the help of Jerry Hildeman KG6HQD, they chose Pacifico Mountain (SOTA W6/CT-015) in the Angeles National Forest due to its ease of accessibility, forgiving hike, and a decent primitive campground at the summit. They chose a 4.68mi hiking route that follows a closed forest service road up to the summit, although we hiked up to find that A. there was a much closer parking spot and B. you could actually drive up to the summit! But that’s alright.
I’ve been dying to get outside more. Missouri has some beautiful outdoors, but I just needed a jumpstart, and this, plus a bunch of Southwest and Hyatt points earned by Jesten (my wife) and I, plus a friend to travel with – Kyle AAØZ – was the perfect impetus to get off my butt and onto a mountain.
My Gear Load-out
I spent way too much money on gear for this trip, but everybody’s a gear nerd so here’s what I went with:
- Black Diamond Element 45L Pack
- REI Trailbreak 20F Sleeping Bag (the zipper on this thing is a massive PITA!)
- Kelty Gunnison 1 Tent
- Thermarest Trail Scout Sleeping Pad
- Sportneer Camp Chair (this really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, albeit kind of heavy)
- ENO Doublenest Hammock and Atlas Suspension System (I didn’t need this but Jason KC5HWB was really thankful I brought it!
- Platypus 2L Bladder (and 3 1L Smartwater bottles)
- Stanley Cook Kit
- Good To-Go Thai Curry (delicious but
- Toaks Titanium Spork
- MSR Pocket Rocket 2
- Jet Lighter
- Leatherman Wave
- Wowtac A2S headlamp
- Harbor Freight Cheap LED Work Light
- Sport Face Sunscreen
- Toiletry Kit including toothbrush/paste, deodorant, and wetwipes
- First Aid Kit
- Keen Boots
- REI Gloves
- Bandana
- Wool baselayer
- Wool Socks
- Jeans and Shorts (I tried ordering some convertible pants but they didn’t arrive on time)
- Sun hat
- Flask
- Cigar
- Chewing Gum
- Total Pack Weight, Wet: 36.7 lbs
The Showstopper
The flight was non-eventful, through Dallas-Love and onto Burbank. BUR is a pretty sad airport. Its small and crowded, and the baggage claim is literally outdoors. Our baggage carousel broke while bags from our flight were coming out. Our bags were stuck on conveyors somewhere in the system, so a worker climbed up the chute to manually drag bags out.
“Last bag” was called and our luggage was nowhere to be found. The luggage that contains basically all of our gear.
The Southwest baggage office worker was remorseful. They started looking around for the bags and out of curiosity I used my phone to ping my Tile, a key-chain Bluetooth locator beacon, and it said it was nearby! That’s a good sign. I walked around and someone came out of a door with my bag asking, “is this yours?” I could hear the chirping Tile in the bag.
Kyle was not so lucky. The Southwest worker had bad news – his gear was stuck at Dallas Love, and wouldn’t be here until 13:00 the next day (when the next flight from DAL arrives). We left the airport at 23:00. Our disappointment was immeasurable, and our day was ruined.
On the bright side, he was awarded a $100 SWA voucher, and Avis ran out of “regular cars” and upgraded me a little bit:
The Miracle
I called Southwest that night but they had no good news to give. We were doomed to wait around until 13:00. We turned down.
That morning, we called some more. Still no news. We figured if they would send the bag on a layover rather than a nonstop, it would get to BUR much faster, but the airline couldn’t say if that could happen.
08:09: A call comes in from Southwest: THE BAG IS ON ITS WAY AND WILL BE HERE AT 9AM!!! It turns out they DID send it through a connection on the first flight out from DAL to Phoenix, onto Burbank. I only wish we knew about that sooner but this was great news. We packed up, got breakfast and jetted out the door back to BUR where Kyle retrieved his bag. ONTO PACIFICO!
The Drive
LA traffic in the morning was no issue, and hot damn the V8 Mustang was a hell of a vehicle to drive through the mountains. However, Highway 2 that snakes through the Angeles Forest is a death trap. Bicycles are huffing up the hills and screaming down them. Motorcycles are passing you at every opportunity, passing lane or not. Aggressive tailgaters honk if you’re impeding their path and somehow manage to not cause an accident on every turn, like this one:
The road was closed for this massive near head-on collision and and even a helicopter was called. Thankfully after about 20 minutes they reopened one lane, and we were on our way. The roads were paved all the way to the parking spot, and were they not the poor Mustang would have had a bad day.
The Hike
The hike was a pretty easy trek up a closed service road that was covered in fallen trees and rock falls. The view was absolutely breathtaking in many spots. It was generally very easy, until we decided at the last mile to take the “shortcut” – an absolutely grueling 60% grade hike straight up the west side of the summit. Probably won’t do that again.
The Summit
Mountains are the most beautiful things on earth. They look pretty from all angles, and it makes the world seem so small on top. To the north we could see Palmdale and Lancaster, CA, and to the west we could see the edge of LA and the Pacific Ocean – that was a really unusual sight. Off in the distance, Catalina Island.
We were met by everyone else who reached the summit about 45 minutes before us. They were impressed by our decision to take the vertical way up, but I promise we weren’t doing it for show!
The Activation
This SOTA excursion almost felt like an Elecraft-sponsored field day. There were a half a dozen antennas, five Elecrafts, 8 operators, and zero noise. Almost everyone officially activated the summit (which reminds me, I need to submit my log!)
The bands were crap, as usual, and despite the signals we had on the mountain
I was very surprised to accomplish my activation entirely on 80m – not a typical band for SOTA. Since we were overnighting, it was a good band to try, and I barely squeezed in four QSOs in about 2 hours of calling CQ.
I woke up the next morning and got on 20m just before sunrise. I had a small run before handing it off to Kyle AAØZ.
The Camaraderie (and Whiskey)
Special thanks to everyone who came, and everyone who brought fine whiskeys. Matt AE4MQ flew all the way from Florida to hang out and brought “Pappy” (Pappy Van Winkle), a $120 per shot bourbon that tasted like pure gold. Everyone else brought their own variety, and not only did I learn a lot about backpacking and portable operation, but I also learned a lot about fine liquor and cigars!
Shout out to everyone who went:
A majority of the people who went were also YouTubers, so naturally they made videos of the expedition. I curated a YouTube playlist of everyone’s video at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG8UQxewXrtZhzi5g-ZMmZtmpbFWODvbS:
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